The deadline for NFLers to make an "all-or-nothing decision" about whether or not to play this season arrives on Aug. 1, at 5:00pm ET, according to Mike Florio of NBCSPORTS.com. Written notice "'must be received' by the team before that moment; once notice is received as to a given player, the opt out becomes irrevocable." A player who "opts out will have his contract toll for a full year," and he "will not receive his base salary or any other payments scheduled to be earned after the date of the opt out, and he will not earn a benefit credit or an accrued season." In '21, his contract "will be reinstated." If a player "'timely reports for all required activities' in 2021, the opt out will not become a breach of his 2020 contract, after the fact." The "most intriguing aspect of the opt-out proposal" is that the NFL's offer "states that '(n)o club may renegotiate a contract with any player who has given notice of his intention to opt out.'" As a practical matter, this "gives a player until August 1 to use the threat of a potential opt out as leverage to get a new deal" (NBCSPORTS.com, 7/19). In San Jose, Jerry McDonald noted also on the table is a "separate COVID-19 injured reserve list from which players can return after three weeks" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 7/19).
AT ODDS: NFL Network's Tom Pelissero noted the union is "not comfortable" with the Aug. 1 date, and also would "like players to have some sort of option to opt-out later on, even during the season, just in case circumstances change" ("Good Morning Football," NFL Network, 7/20).
